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Portal:Mexico

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The Temple of Warriors at Chichen Itza, Mexico
The Temple of Warriors at Chichen Itza, Mexico

¡Bienvenido! Welcome to the Mexico portal

Mexico
Location of Mexico
LocationSouthern portion of North America

Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. Covering 1,972,550 km2 (761,610 sq mi), it is the world's 13th largest country by area; with a population of almost 130 million, it is the 10th most populous country and has the most Spanish speakers in the world. Mexico is organized as a federal constitutional republic comprising 31 states and Mexico City, its capital and largest city, which is among the world's most populous metropolitan areas. The country shares land borders with the United States to the north, with Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; as well as maritime borders with the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Caribbean Sea to the southeast, and the Gulf of Mexico to the east.


Human presence in Pre-Columbian Mexico dates back to 8,000 BC, making it one of the world's six cradles of civilization. The Mesoamerican region hosted various intertwined civilizations, including the Olmec, Maya, Zapotec, Teotihuacan, and Purepecha. The Aztecs came to dominate the area prior to European contact. In 1521, the Spanish Empire, alongside indigenous allies, conquered the Aztec Empire, establishing the colony of New Spain centered in the former capital, Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City). Over the next three centuries, Spain expanded its territorial control, enforced Christianity, and spread the Spanish language, with the colony's rich silver deposits fueling its empire. The colonial era ended in the early 19th century with the Mexican War of Independence. (Full article...)

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San Lorenzo Colossal Head 4, now at the Museo de Antropología de Xalapa

The Olmec colossal heads are stone representations of human heads sculpted from large basalt boulders. They range in height from 1.17 to 3.4 metres (3.8 to 11.2 ft). The heads date from at least 900 BC and are a distinctive feature of the Olmec civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. All portray mature individuals with fleshy cheeks, flat noses, and slightly-crossed eyes; their physical characteristics correspond to a type that is still common among the inhabitants of Tabasco and Veracruz. The backs of the monuments often are flat. The boulders were brought from the Sierra de Los Tuxtlas mountains of Veracruz. Given that the extremely large slabs of stone used in their production were transported over large distances (over 150 kilometres (93 mi)), requiring a great deal of human effort and resources, it is thought that the monuments represent portraits of powerful individual Olmec rulers. Each of the known examples has a distinctive headdress. The heads were variously arranged in lines or groups at major Olmec centres, but the method and logistics used to transport the stone to these sites remain unclear. They all display distinctive headgear and one theory is that these were worn as protective helmets, maybe worn for war or to take part in a ceremonial Mesoamerican ballgame. The discovery of the first colossal head at Tres Zapotes in 1862 by José María Melgar y Serrano was not well documented nor reported outside of Mexico.

The excavation of the same colossal head by Matthew Stirling in 1938 spurred the first archaeological investigations of Olmec culture. Seventeen confirmed examples are known from four sites within the Olmec heartland on the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Most colossal heads were sculpted from spherical boulders but two from San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán were re-carved from massive stone thrones. An additional monument, at Takalik Abaj in Guatemala, is a throne that may have been carved from a colossal head. This is the only known example from outside the Olmec heartland. (Full article...)

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The Zócalo also known as Plaza de la Constitución with the Mexican flag waving in the center and to the right behind it, the Old Portal de Mercaderes

The historic center of Mexico City (Spanish: Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México), also known as the Centro or Centro Histórico, is the central neighborhood in Mexico City, Mexico, focused on the Zócalo (or main plaza) and extending in all directions for a number of blocks, with its farthest extent being west to the Alameda Central. The Zocalo is the largest plaza in Latin America. It can hold up to nearly 100,000 people.

This section of the capital lies in the municipal borough of Cuauhtémoc, has just over nine square km and occupies 668 blocks. It contains 9,000 buildings, 1,550 of which have been declared of historical importance. Most of these historic buildings were constructed between the 16th and 20th centuries. It is divided into two zones for preservation purposes. Zone A encompasses the pre-Hispanic city and its expansion from the Viceroy period until Independence. Zone B covers the areas all other constructions to the end of the 19th century that are considered indispensable to the preservation of the area's architectural and cultural heritage. (Full article...)
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Muerte y resurrección (Death and Resurrection) (circa 1943), by José Clemente Orozco, at the Museo Nacional de Arte
image credit: public domain

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El Ejemplo (The Example) is a studio album by Regional Mexican band Los Tigres del Norte. It was released by Fonovisa Records on May 2, 1995, and includes fourteen tracks written by Teodoro Bello and Enrique Valencia, which span song styles such as ballads, boleros, corridos, cumbias and rancheras.

The album was a commercial success peaking at number eight in the Billboard Top Latin Albums in the United States, where it was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. To promote the album, Los Tigres del Norte released four singles, "La Fama de la Pareja", the title track and "Golpes en el Corazón" that reached top ten in the Billboard Hot Latin Songs, while the single "No Puedo Más" peaked at number 15 in the same chart. "Golpes en el Corazón", was later included in the setlist of their live album MTV Unplugged: Los Tigres del Norte and Friends as a duet with Mexican singer Paulina Rubio. (Full article...)

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Maximilian, c. 1864

Maximilian I (German: Ferdinand Maximilian Josef Maria von Habsburg-Lothringen, Spanish: Fernando Maximiliano José María de Habsburgo-Lorena; 6 July 1832 – 19 June 1867) was an Austrian archduke who became emperor of the Second Mexican Empire from 10 April 1864 until his execution by the Mexican Republic on 19 June 1867.

A member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, Maximilian was the younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. Prior to his becoming Emperor of Mexico, he was commander-in-chief of the small Imperial Austrian Navy and briefly the Austrian viceroy of Lombardy–Venetia, but was removed by the emperor. Two years before his dismissal, he briefly met with French emperor Napoleon III in Paris, where he was approached by conservative Mexican monarchists seeking a European royal to rule Mexico. Initially Maximilian was not interested, but following his dismissal as viceroy, the Mexican monarchists' plan was far more appealing to him. (Full article...)

In the news

12 June 2024 – Mexico–United States border crisis
The American Civil Liberties Union files a lawsuit in federal court against the Biden administration for US President Joe Biden's new presidential directive which limits migrants seeking asylum at the Mexico–United States border. (NPR)
9 June 2024 – 2024 Mexican general election
Mexico's ruling party Morena and its coalition allies win a supermajority in the Chamber of Deputies but not in the Senate, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed to change the Constitution. (Reuters)
7 June 2024 – RICH nightclub railing collapse
A glass railing collapses outside the overcrowded RICH nightclub in Mexico, causing several concertgoers to fall three stories, killing two and injuring 15. (El Universal)
6 June 2024 –
SpaceX launches Starship's Integrated Flight Test 4, successfully guiding both the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage to soft water landings in the Gulf of Mexico and the Indian Ocean, respectively. (The New York Times)
5 June 2024 – Mexico–United States border crisis
US President Joe Biden institutes a broad asylum ban on migrants illegally crossing the Mexico–United States border, with actions to deport or turn people back to Mexico, with exceptions for unaccompanied children, people with serious medical or safety threats, and victims of trafficking. (Reuters)
4 June 2024 – Mexico–United States border crisis
US President Joe Biden enacts an executive order to temporarily suspend asylum claims processing at the Mexico–United States border when the seven-day average of claims exceeds 2,500 per day. Amnesty International criticizes the executive order, accusing Biden of "setting a dangerous international precedent". (NPR) (AP)

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A Mexican-style burrito served with some limes

A burrito (English: /bəˈrt/, Spanish: [buˈrito] ) in Mexico is, historically, a regional name, among others, for what is known as a taco, a tortilla filled with food, in other parts of the country. The term burrito was regional, specifically from Guanajuato, Guerrero, Michoacán, San Luis Potosí and Sinaloa, for what is known as a taco in Mexico City and surrounding areas, and codzito in Yucatán and Quintana Roo. Due to the cultural influence of Mexico City, the term taco became the default, and the meaning of terms like burrito and codzito were forgotten, leading many people to create new meanings and folk histories.

In modern times, it is considered by many as a different dish in Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine that took form in Ciudad Juárez, consisting of a flour tortilla wrapped into a sealed cylindrical shape around various ingredients. In Central and Southern Mexico, burritos are still considered tacos, and are known as “tacos de harina” (wheat flour tacos). The tortilla is sometimes lightly grilled or steamed to soften it, make it more pliable, and allow it to adhere to itself. Burritos are often eaten by hand, as their tight wrapping keeps the ingredients together. Burritos can also be served "wet", i.e., covered in a savory and spicy sauce, when they would be eaten with a fork and knife. (Full article...)

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